Topic: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

I've been brewing this deck for a long time now...haven't done anything but playing it online. Against casual decks I very rarely lose, but more serious T1 or even T2 decks tend to be much more of a challenge. Not sure what the ceiling is on this deck so I'm interested to know what the community here thinks. I'll give a link and a decklist underneath, organized by CMC. https://deckbox.org/sets/964233

4x Gravecrawler
4x Fume Spitter
4x Bloodghast
4x Putrid Leech
4x Abrupt Decay
4x Geralf's Messenger
2x Dismember
4x Liliana of the Veil
4x Phyrexian Obliterator
2x Lashwrithe
I run 4 Forests, 4 Overgrown Tomb, 12 Swamps and 4 Verdant Catacombs

My sideboard is very tentative, but looks as follows:
4x Gatekeeper of Malakir
4x Extirpate
3x Mutilate
4x Thoughtseize

Now to explain what I like about this deck.

Gravecrawler is a great aggressive one drop that can keep coming back so long as I've got a zombie on the field...and I have a bunch in the deck.

Fume Spitter might look out of place, but not only can it kill stuff like Birds of Paradise and Dark Confidant, but it can keep Geralf's Messenger coming back to the battlefield with those -1/-1 counters (provided he doesn't get Path'd).

Bloodghast is a great 2 drop that never really goes away either...becoming a serious threat when my opponent drops below 10.

Putrid Leech is a zombie that can hit pretty hard if unblocked. I don't mind losing the life except against burn...who I may very well be able to race.

Abrupt Decay is ridiculously powerful removal for the early stages of the game.

Dismember goes through indestructible, which is great against almost everything.

I personally love Geralf's Messenger. He's a fat body that often deals 4 damage just by entering the battlefield twice.

Liliana of the Veil has some nice synergy here too. I can keep the threats out of my opponent's hand...while in most cases I don't mind discarding a Bloodghast or Gravecrawler. She can force an enemy to sac a creature they don't want to (I'm looking at you Mirran Crusader).

Phyrexian Obliterator is a lot of fun if the opponent doesn't have spot removal ready, and burn may as well flip the table, because they have to hit me and not the 4 damage monstrosity coming at them every turn.

The only reason I have Lashwrithe in there is for later game situations when I need a real fatty. I don't have a ton of late game potential.

I've been toying with using Gatekeeper of Malakir. The extra sac effect could be helpful.

Extirpate is nice card hate.

Mutilate is meant to beat aggro strategies, but I'm still a bit iffy on that front.

Thoughtseize is excellent for disrupting combo strategies.

------

Here's where I need help. What do I do to take this deck to the next level? I mean it's really effective in casual (well, it does cost over $800), but it doesn't have enchantment hate, artifact hate, and heaven forbid they drop a Wurmcoil Engine. I don't have answers to some of the more powerful threats and I find myself struggling against token strategies. I think this is a solid tier 2 deck, but it's fun enough that I'd like to see it do better.

I really don't know what I'm missing.

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

So first off, thank you for actually posting a breakdown on the deck, what you're thinking, and where the weaknesses are apparent to you.

That being said, I'm not an expert on Modern, so please take my suggestions with a grain of salt, but I have a few thoughts:

1) I get that Fume Spitter is meant to let you counteract the undying on Geralf's Messenger, but I just don't see where it will get the job done (or really contribute that much to the plan).  I would imagine a better use of the 1-drop would be to put something like Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize main.  Even that little bit of hand disruption could make the difference.

2) I think Lashwrithe is likely just overkill.  If a Phyrexian Obliterator isn't going to get the job done, then you have some real issues.

3) I could see where something like Lotleth Troll might be worth at least a bit of run here.  Sure, he's not tier 1, but the ability to drop both Bloodghast and Gravecrawler for counters only to get them right back while you're going about your business seems pretty good to me.

4) Golgari Charm strikes me as the fix-all card you're looking for in the board.  It'll deal with all the issues you stated other than artifacts.  For that you have Putrefy for either the main or sideboard.  The joy is that the cards are versatile enough that they fit both in your primary plan or can fulfill several goals rather than just being pidgeon-holed into "enchantment hate" or "token hate" etc.

5) As an alternative, given that tokens are very much a thing in modern, Illness in the Ranks can take care of some business for you out of the board if needed.

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, Fume Spitter is a cool interaction, but if it's not going to get the job done, then I may be better off with something stronger, freeing up slots in the sideboard. That doesn't bother me. I'll test out and see if a first turn Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek will be better. Doing so will also help me figure out what I'm up against in game 1 rather than having to guess.

Honestly, as much as I'm concerned about the game going on for longer, as an aggro deck, I shouldn't really be focused on that. If I'm not in a position to win the game by the time we hit turn 5 or 6, I'm already in big trouble anyway, and there are few cards out there that would fix that. Keeping Liliana safe might help in that situation.

Lotleth Troll will compete with Putrid Leech for that second 2 drop slot, but I'll definitely try it out. You bring up a valid point.

Yes! How could I forget Golgari charm? I even run one in my cube. Putrefy looks like a good option too. The help with the sideboard is the most appreciated because I've never really built a serious deck where one was required.

I'll be sure to test this out ASAP online.

EDIT: I think I'll cut out two lands two. My curve is so small I can probably afford to.

Last edited by Wo1olo (2015-05-05 00:46:32)

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

Maelstrom Pulse is the go-to removal after Abrupt Decay imo.

Profile  Tradelist

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

I'll second Kammikaze's comment... no excuse for me having forgotten those...

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

Okay, so here's the update.

Lotleth Troll has proven to be better than Putrid Leech, so I will run 4 of those. I can easily get him to a 4/3 with regenerate...which is good.

Phyrexian Obliterator eats Path to Exile a lot, which is also fine. In fact, I expect it. I can still win with my lower drops.

I've added Maelstrom Pulse, which is solid and has done work.

Crime // Punishment...the 'Punishment' part is fantastic against affinity AND tokens. Oh, you have a bunch of 0 drop artifacts/tokens? I can kill them all for TWO mana. It's so flexible. I don't even need the 'crime' part.

Nobody at my LGS plays tron, but I'll keep Rain of Tears in there.

Overall this deck has made big strides. I'm still trying to figure out my burn matchup though. Any suggestions?

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

Obviously the biggest trump card against burn is Leyline of Sanctity. Drop that t0 of game 2 and they will have major problems. At the very least they'll waste a turn Wear // Tear-ing it and not doing damage.

Golgari Charm, imo, is a sideboard card.

I would probably play this like a BG rock deck as it is almost there anyway. 4 Abrupt Decay, 4 Maelstrom Pulse, maybe 4 Inquisition of Kozilek in the mainboard to go with Thoughseize. That's a crap ton of disruption that is sure to mess up anyone's gameplan.

+ 4 Inquisition of Kozilek
-4 Golgari Charm
-2 Putrid Leech
+ Lotleth Troll
-2 ...something, maybe land
+2 Maelstrom Pulse

SB - Sideboard is always meta specific. If you find specific cards better for your LGS, run them.
-4 Extirpate
+3 Surgical Extraction (I've rarely seen split second here be useful)
+3 Golgari Charm
-2 Putrefy (you already have plenty of disruption)
-1 Crime // Punishment (this seems like a solid card in this deck)
-1 Rain of Tears (Fulminator Mage would be better, but it's pricey. Hopefully the reprint brings it down a lot.)
+2 Leyline of Sanctity

Profile  Tradelist

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

I can't do Leyline of Sanctity because it's white and it's not very easy to splash. It'd be stupidly expensive. I suppose I could race red, especially if I get a Phyrexian Obliterator out.

The rest of your changes look good. I'll try them out and see how things go.

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

Leyline of Sanctity can be played for free if it's in your opening hand. Also, it was just spoiled as being reprinted in Modern Masters 2015 so the price will drop.

Profile  Tradelist

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

Against burn you really just have to offset the life loss a little bit and it can make all the difference.  Really ANY life gain could make all the difference... in Standard the natural card you'd want is Whip of Erebos but I REALLY doubt that makes the cut in Modern (reanimation shenanigans be damned).  Again, showing my lack of familiarity with the modern format, would something like Feed the Clan work?  If you have a pumped Lotleth or an Obliterator, that's 10 life, which translates into another 3 burn spells (likely at least 1-2 additional turns to finish them off).  That or pretty much anything with lifelink... could Vampire Nighthawk make the cut?  Every burn spell they have to expend on a creature is another one they cannot zap you with.

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

Any Modern Masters reprint will only drop temporarily. Demand will drive that price back up again in no time, just like last time...especially for cards outside of casual.

Silly me though, I'd forgotten that it's free in your opening hand. I could just mulligan until I have one in my hand and that basically hoses their direct burn spells.

Vampire Nighthawk will eat a burn spell...waste of a space to be honest.

Feed the Clan is actually really good. I think I'll put a couple in.

If I ever get a Tuesday off, I'll properly proxy this deck and test it out at my LGS's modern night (proxies allowed). Thanks for all the help so far. I hope this homebrew turns into something great.

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

Wo1olo wrote:

Any Modern Masters reprint will only drop temporarily. Demand will drive that price back up again in no time, just like last time...especially for cards outside of casual.

Not necessarily. The mythics probably won't move a whole lot, though the more casual ones will take a hit (Tezz the Seeker, Iona). The constructed playable rares in MM1 (Cryptic Command, Blood Moon, Aether Vial, Pact of Negation, Arcbound Ravager etc) all dropped a decent percentage before eventually recovering and that was with a much smaller print run. With MM2 being a larger print run I would expect the prices to stay lower longer, perhaps indefinitely in some cases. And some playables like Maelstrom Pulse never even recovered. It was $12 before MM1, dropped to just below $8 and is now sitting at $8.29. Glimmervoid went from $17 to $7.

Profile  Tradelist

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

I've decided to run 2x Twilight Mire. This is actually one of the niche situations where it's actually important. If I land on a forest (and I was running 4x before), then my Phyrexian Obliterator comes in a turn or two or more later. With a filterland or two, I can make sure that I have the 4 black mana I need to cast it...without running the risk of having too many of them and screwing myself with colorless mana.

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

I was going to suggest Twilight Mire as it would be really good for dropping obliterator, but it's over $30 which is just stupid.

Profile  Tradelist

Re: [Modern][Opinions] BG Aggro

I totally forgot about Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Not only does it help against Blood Moon, but it makes casting Phyrexian Obliterator easier. I'm thinking I'll only add 2 though, because as a legendary land, it would be pretty bad to draw multiples.